1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a protective packaging, and more particularly to a protective packaging for transport and storage of a tubular element including, but not limited to, a capillary tube or a micropipette.
2. Background Information
In general, capillary tubes are very fragile thin tubes of very small diameter made from a brittle material such as glass for example. Typically, extreme caution is needed to transport, store, grip and use capillary tubes due to their fragility, which is due to, at least in part, the nominal dimensions of the device. For example, the ratio of the external diameter of the capillary tube to its length can be on the order of 100 or more. Indeed, capillary tubes having an external diameter of about 1 mm or less and a length of about 10 cm or more are commonplace.
Micropipettes are one non-limiting example of a medical device whose nominal dimensions substantially correspond to those described above. Referring to FIG. 5, a micropipette 5 typically comprises a main portion 6 of constant diameter and a tapered portion 7 that ends in a tip. The tapered portion provides an extension in which its internal diameter is reduced to a value of about 5 to about 30 microns. Thus, the internal diameter of the tapered portion and tip are approximately a dimension of 10,000 times less than that of the length of the tube and to the order of 200 relative to its external diameter in the main portion of the micropipette. Micropipettes are particularly useful for in vitro fertilization techniques such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). During this procedure, a spermatozoon is picked-up using the tip of the micropipette. The micropipette tip is then used to puncture the zona pellucida and vitelline membrane to inject the sperm into the oocyte cytoplasm. The tip of the micropipette ensures that the device is as non-traumatic to the reproductive tissues as possible. A separate micropipette also may be used to retain the oocyte into which the first micropipette delivers the sperm.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that such tubular elements require the greatest care continuously, not only during the operations associated with their use, but also during their transport and storage. For these reasons, a packaging device that provides support and protects the tubular element against shock and flexure, even the slightest of which would unmendably break it, which is easy to grasp and to move by the user, easy to use when the tubular element is positioned therein or withdrawn therefrom, inexpensive to manufacture and, finally, small in size is needed.